Genetics of a brain bleed

An aneurysm [An-you-riz-im] is a bulge in a blood vessel. It forms if we have a weak spot in a blood vessel wall. An aneurysm can happen in a blood vessel in our heart. Or behind our knee. In our intestine. Or in our brain. You may have symptoms. Or you may not. Most aneurysms do not cause problems. But, it could start to a leak. A leak causes bleeding in places where there should not be blood. Or it could burst. This is not good. If a blood vessel in our brain bursts, it is a type of stroke. It can be life-threatening. Within minutes, brain cells start to die. You want to seek treatment as fast as you can. Most of the time, we do not know what causes aneurysms. But there are things that can raise your risk. Like smoking. High blood pressure. Drug abuse. Or drinking a lot of alcohol. Older people are also at higher risk. A head injury can cause an aneurysm. Or a blood infection. Genetics may also play a part. Gene changes may affect your risk for an aneurysm. Each gene change may play a small part. Having one gene change may not affect your risk. But the gene changes can add up. The more you have, the bigger the risk. Scientists at Vanderbilt University Medical Center want to know more about brain aneurysms. And the risk of one leaking or bursting. They will look for people have a brain aneurysm. They will look to see who also had one leak. Then they will look for gene changes in both groups. If they find any changes, they will do more research. They want to make sure of their results. The goal is to find a way to predict who is at risk for a brain bleed. The earlier we know, the more we can do to stop it from leaking. Or bursting. Their results may also help us find a new way to treat aneurysms.